Darkenstein 3D RSS Feed

Base 1.4.2 and DLC 1.0.2 are both up

Rowye — Fri, 23 Oct 2026 16:42:24 +0000

Again one small hotfix to try to finally stop the 'final level to intro' bug once and for all. I believe this should do it this time. Of course, don't try to reproduce. ;)
But let me know if it still happens.

Additionally, I've done away with the white flash at the beginning if you are skipping the splash screens.

Cheers,
Rowye

Base 1.4.1 and DLC 1.0.1 are both up

Rowye — Thu, 22 Oct 2026 18:13:04 +0000

Hey all, this is a hotfix-y update to sort a couple things I saw after the last update. This is for both for DLC and base game, mostly the former, so since I don't want to spam events it's all in one here.

Here's the changelog:

BOTH:
- Fixed most blood wrongly sitting off of edges and now more blood stamps on terrain.
- Fixed level 10 outdoors ambient sounds being heard inside the fortress.

DLC only:
- Level 9 RMX: Switched small shotgun ammo rack for large MP40 one mid-way, as it’s more helpful in the next section.
- Level 10 RMX: Added missing “You are exiting this area” help text.
- Stopped AAA mode enemy markers leaking into games played after it.
- Fixed Endless mode purchase sound not being directed to the Effects channel.
- Fixed a couple menu options that were displaying wrong in the Spanish translation.
- Fixed Homicidal Rant bar's title and number displays.

Cheers!
Rowye

Darkenstein 3D 1.4 is here!

Rowye — Tue, 20 Oct 2026 16:53:39 +0000

Hi everyone!

The 1.4 update for the game is finally here and it is a bit late, since I wanted to do this before the DLC released, but I hope it will be worth the wait.

This is a big one and it brings all of the polish and bugfixes that I added to the DLC to the free base game. This will certainly be the best time to play the game if you haven't yet, as it is as polished as ever.

If you're playing the DLC and wonder why it feels like a smoother experience, this is your list as well. :)
Here's the changelog:

NEW

Player & Combat

Player now has 5 seconds of invulnerability after respawning.
Player can now interrupt reloads by switching weapons or using an item.
Player can now kick enemies off tall edges if the fall is big enough, automatically killing them.
Player does more damage to destructible objects.

Enemy AI & Behavior

Better enemy command of their pets.
Better enemy behavior after they stop roaming.
Improvements to enemy awareness of player’s shots.
Enemies are fairly better at detecting and avoiding grenades and mortar strikes.
New behavior can make some enemies/enemy behaviors more aggressive now.
New routines for Valkyrie enemies, who now play it more sneaky and defensive.
Better behavior for Snow Trooper enemies and their companions.

Weapons, Animation & Feedback

Switched player pistol to a Browning HP which now has a corresponding icon and sound.
Restored MP40 charging handle animation that was lost early in development.
Re-implemented red screen halo when player has low health.
Shooting corpses no longer draws red on the dynamic crosshair.
Better overall pushing of ragdolls in explosion deaths.
Reduced explosions’ gibbing power slightly to create more ragdoll action.
Tesla superweapon uses 1/4th less ammo now.

Graphics, Performance & UI

Significant CPU performance improvement (optimized enemy AI, combat events, hud, etc).
Lighting of the first few levels has been made a bit brighter.
Decoration shadows optimized and tied to graphic presets.
Breakables’ shadows now optimized in lower graphics presets.
Reduced size of many textures without quality loss.
Better normal maps for some materials.
Darkened settings background to enhance options’ readability.
Added formatting to big scores (x.xxx.xxx).
Better tree shading in levels 9 and 10.
Added a few more useful cheats.
Reorganized cheat shortcuts to make more sense.

Audio, Dialogue & Announcer

Better tracking of random Hobo comments so he can’t repeat comments too often.
Better announcer system for Homicidal Rant (under the hood).
Stopped Hobo kill comments for the very last section of the game.

Level & Content Polish

Level 6: Added lighting to dynamic objects in a secret that was missing it.
Level 7: Small re-design of the library puzzle.
Level 9: Locked a door to make sure player does not miss the blue key.
Level 10: Bad Guy now looks at you during the boss fight.
Last Level: Added barriers to the sides of the final walk to exit the level, avoiding confusion.

BUG FIXES

Stability & Graphics

Reduced amount of total shadows (tied to general graphics preset) to reduce -hopefully stop- crashes.
Fixed graphics preset change forcing Vsync on.

Player Movement & Collision

Player can no longer be propelled by or climb other moving objects.
Player can no longer accidentally climb dogs or other enemies.
Enemies can no longer push the player outside of the level bounds.
Fixed crouch bugs when pressing pause.

Enemy AI & Combat

Player kick effects on enemies are now consistent across the enemy roster.
Enemies no longer slide while in standing or crouching positions.
Enemies that strafe no longer go into walls or strafe into the air.
Enemies no longer randomly miss melee hits.
Ensured Valkyrie hair buns no longer go through their hats.
Restored the more aggressive Knights and Insects that became more social since v1.3.
Fixed enemies trying to shoot through trucks.
Fixed enemy muzzleflash often being awkwardly offset.
Valkyrie strafe has been made much slower and controlled.
Charger baldie enemies no longer act confused or walk at unfitting high speeds.
Charger enemies now charge in more of a controlled straight line.
Restored proper (blue) blood on walls upon shooting Knights.
Fixed Space Fly’s magic staying in-game after enemy death.
Less instances of enemies walking/running in place.

UI, Audio & Announcer

Announcer no longer misses the Triple Kill call.
Restored Crosshair Opacity slider that broke with the 1.3 update.
Less rare issues with Homicidal Rant duration.
Homicidal Rant title and number no longer sometimes disappear from the side bar. (not yet in DLC)
Stopped player step sounds from occasionally continuing during dialogue.
Fixed a few loading screens that were showing stretched in 16:9.
When Mr.Rat explains how to switch items, the displayed key now responds to custom binds as well.

Level-Specific Fixes

Level 3: Fixed end level Troopers that used to move through the fire pillars.
Level 4: Fixed geometry leaks in last part of the level.
Level 4: Fixed level 4 pyramid boss’ breaking pyramid’s objects sometimes staying in the air.
Level 4: Covered some geometry leaks.
Level 5: Fixed instances of moonlight flickering in the main hall.
Level 5: Fixed first dialogue whose start was broken in the last patch.
Level 5: Fixed bad lighting above the opening to the 1st secret.
Level 6: Fixed a few stairs that enemies couldn’t traverse.
Level 6: Fixed a couple ammo pickups that were wrongly hidden.
Level 6: Fixed light on top of piano that would stay if the piano was destroyed.
Level 7: Fixed insect ambush door by the blue key.
Level 7: Fixed patio cell door so the player can shoot through it.
Level 7: Fixed several typos in lab specimen notes.
Level 8: Fixed 2 sets of stairs that stopped enemy AI at the end of the level.
Level 8: Boss can now be damaged by electrical weapons.
Level 8: When boss dies, part of the blood no longer stays in the air.
Level 8: Added correct metal step sounds to a couple areas that were missing them.
Level 8: Fixed transition to level 9 having no loading screen.
Level 9: Fixed a stone fence that enemies could walk through.
Level 9: Fixed start snipers that were unable to shoot since the last update.
Level 9: Removed confusing elements by the trucks in the exit area of the level.
Level 10: Player can no longer hear birds inside the level 10 facility.
Level 10: Resized a couple boxes so that a camping Panzerfauster doesn’t shoot them and kill himself.
Level 10: Fixed enemies behind Double Lock Door detecting the player before the doors open.
Level 10: Ensured Gunther appears in cutscenes.
Level 11: Added wooden ramp to a part that used to force the exploring player to do a good amount of backtracking.
Level 11: Added a few wooden boards on the way toward the Red Key.
Level 12: Fixed softlock in the first part of the level, where player could be stuck outside of the fenced doors.
Final Boss: Fixed instances of final boss not appearing after loading a checkpoint.
Final Boss: Stopped player from going into the teleporter towers.
Final Boss: Reduced the times boss shoots through walls substantially.
Final Boss: Fixed bug whereby the player would be taken back to level 1 if exiting before a checkpoint in the last level.
Final Boss: After the win, Martina no longer is slightly off the ground when she follows.

Hope you can have even more fun with the game now. Cheers!
Rowye

Total Trampage Is Out Now. Apparently, Once Wasn’t Enough.

patgarret77 — Wed, 14 Oct 2026 10:05:16 +0000

Hello everyone,

Total Trampage, the DLC for DARKENSTEIN 3D, is out now!

You fought through castles, bunkers, caves, and desert towns to get Gunther back. A sensible person would take a holiday after that. Unfortunately, I made more levels.

Total Trampage brings you back to familiar territory, then rearranges it just enough to make your confidence a liability. It also adds endless combat new music and enemies, and a few ways to decide exactly how unpleasant your afternoon should be.

Familiar places. Fresh problems.

Five campaign levels return with reworked layouts, new encounters, and new secrets. Remember where everything was? Lovely. That should make the surprises more effective.

These aren’t sightseeing trips. Keep moving, check the walls, and try not to let nostalgia get you shot.

The enemies have cancelled their other plans.

For those who finish a level and think, “That was nice, but what if it never stopped?”, there are 11 endless maps.

The nazis keep coming. You keep fighting. Eventually, something has to give, and the enemies have the numbers.

You can also adjust the fight with challenge modifiers, including bullet speed, enemy damage, and how much punishment you can take. Make it vicious, ease things off, or find that special balance where every death feels entirely someone else’s fault.

What’s in the DLC?

New Game+, just as you like it. But beware, levels are not as empty this time around!
5 remixed campaign levels, with new layouts, encounters, and secrets; and a couple new enemy types. Get a glimpse into what will come in the next expansion.
11 endless maps, for finding out how long your good decisions last.
Challenge modifiers, with both funny and game-changing modes, difficulty sliders and more.
Scavenger hunt, find albums in hidden spots all over the levels to unlock jukebox tracks. Use those unlocks to change the music in Endless mode, or play the jukebox songs in the main menu!
New music: 3 new tracks from yours truly, and 8 new OST remixes from the Hobo himself.
Darkenstein 3D archive, if you are curious about what the game used to be like. See how much worse it was when I had no idea what I was doing!
The most polished version of the game, I worked all this year since it released to smooth every edge.

The Base Game

The base game remains FREE. But it is also getting the performance tweaks and polish that the DLC has soon.

This had to happen today or before, but I’ve been going through some sad times in my personal life, and I’ve not had the time to do it.

As said, this is coming soon, and everyone will be able to play the best version of the campaign. :)

Thank you

Thank you to everyone who has played DARKENSTEIN 3D, left a review, reported a bug, shared a video, or recommended it to a friend with questionable taste.

Your support and feedback have meant a lot throughout development, and I’m very excited to finally put Total Trampage in your hands.

I hope you enjoy heading back into the chaos.

Total Trampage is available now on Steam. Grab your weapons. Gunther’s coming too.

Total Trampage is coming!

patgarret77 — Fri, 25 Sep 2026 11:42:56 +0000

Hello everyone!

I’m thrilled to announce Darkenstein 3D: Total Trampage, the first DLC and paid content for the game. It’s the closest thing to a Darkenstein 3D Gold Edition: the most polished version yet, with a lot more content and hours of gameplay.

Darkenstein 3D was free, a passion project, and we want to keep making more campaigns and adventures for the Hobo Guy. If you want to help with that, this DLC is a good way to do it.

But enough of that. What is in the package you say?

Holy crap, that's a lot!

New Game+
5 Remixed Levels
11 Endless Maps
Jukebox & collectible vinyls
14 new Hobo one-liners
4 new songs, 7 OST remixes
2 new enemy archetypes, 7 zombie variants
Gameplay Modifiers (Gameplay sliders, fun mods)
Old Builds Archive

Watch the trailer:

What's included?

Remix Levels: Five remixed levels. What's a remix level? A level you know, but don't. You might start at the end, or somewhere completely new. Visuals and paths are revamped. Some are similar to the original, some aren't. New, stronger enemies, and higher difficulty!
Endless Mode: Survive! One of the most asked features is here. I looped the original levels by opening and closing paths. Escape endless spawning creatures and nazi soldiers. New zombie types, big Power-ups, small Buffs. Save money for weapons, ammo, health. Get medals. How long can you stay alive?
New Game+ : Classic New Game+, with a couple of twists. You start with all your weapons, ammo, and health. But Beware! New enemies are around. You better be ready!
Gameplay Modifiers: Challenge Mode might look the same from the outside, but it’s a whole new world on the inside! After choosing difficulty, you pick Modifiers for that level. From classics like Big Heads, Insta Gib, Silly Sounds, to more original ones you’ll have to find yourself. More important: sliders for enemy damage, player damage, and enemy projectile speed. That’s a whole new kind of challenge.

Jukebox Scavenger Hunt: Hidden records are now around the old and new remixed levels. Find them to unlock OST tracks, then play them whenever you want. Run the Jukebox in the main menu, or during Endless games, to change the music.
New Music: Three new snappy, fast and heavy metal tracks, made mainly for Survival gameplay. Plus one new ambient track by Jake “The Voice” Parr, and his remixes of the original OST tracks.
Old builds: Curious about the game’s history? This project started from a tutorial. You can see that first build now, plus a couple more from a year later and two years later, to see how it evolved.
More little things for you to discover. :)

The Base Game

The base game is still completely free.

I’ve spent this whole year fixing, enhancing, and optimizing the game, and I did not stop while making the DLC. All of the polish that applies to the main campaign is coming to the base game in a large 1.4 update in the coming days as well.

Once again, the game remains and will remain free.

If you've already played Darkenstein 3D, Total Trampage is a whole bunch of new stuff to come back to.

We will be waiting for you:
OCTOBER 14TH!

Total Trampage DLC

Update 1.3.8

Rowye — Mon, 18 May 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Hi everyone!

The checkpoint system had improved but that caused a huge hitch on touching checkpoints. I have managed to remove that! I don't see any new bugs from it in my build, but let me know how it works.

Aside of that, a few more fixes as usual. :)

Changelog

Heavily reduced stutter when reaching a checkpoint.
Ensured dialogue choices are represented correctly after a checkpoint load.
Enforced health policies on switching levels to ensure health does not reset in 2-part levels.
Ensured player cannot shoot inside a No Weapon Area under any circumstance.
Fixed dialogue not resetting after pressing “Last Checkpoint”.
Fixed terrain geometry softlock near a tree in level 10.

Update 1.3.7

Rowye — Tue, 12 May 2026 12:43:47 +0000

Hey everyone!

It's another week, another update.
This one is mostly focused on ironing out the save states and more importantly, stop bugs related to continuing the game, some of which can be really annoying.

Changelog:

Fixed bug where player would be put back to level 1 if quitting during the final boss fight.
Moved secrets text down a bit to avoid overlapping with subtitles.
Fixed level 1’s last soldier line not being properly written in the text box.
Increased damage of the level 5 electric trap by 5x.
Fixed set of stairs in level 5 that enemies could not use.
Made fix for rare bug in level 10 where the boss door would not open.
Fixed scarab model that was facing backwards toward the end of level 11.

Let me know how it works.
Cheers!

Update 1.3.6

Rowye — Fri, 08 May 2026 14:51:04 +0000

Just a very quick patch today, to fix blood and gibs defaulting to 0 on new installs, and remove some dev stuff that was left in by mistake.
Cheers!

Update 1.3.5

Rowye — Thu, 07 May 2026 13:45:28 +0000

It’s a smaller one today but again trying to tackle pretty serious issues, hope all is better now. ;)

Also this is not part of the update, but GeForce Now is now available, along with cloud saves.
Please report how this works if you try it.

Changelog:
- Fixed doors activated by 2 buttons not being open on checkpoint load.
- Fixed objective not changing when level 10 boss fight ends.
- Fixed level 12 not carrying ammo to part 2 of the map in Challenge mode.
- Fixed Restart Level putting player at the 2nd part of level 12 instead of restarting from the beginning.
- 2nd attempt to fix final level saves registering as level 1 saves.

Update 1.3.4 - It's bigger than it seems!

Rowye — Mon, 04 May 2026 16:22:52 +0000

Hi everyone!

We aren't changing big numbers but this is a big one. The checkpoint system is now fully fleshed out, and checkpoints load reliably. Cloud saves support has also been added.

At the moment of writing, I have not set up Steamworks for cloud saves yet! But it will be done in the next hours.
THIS IS NOT TESTED AND IT'S BETTER NOT TO RELY ON IT until we have word that it works fine or reports of its bugs. Try at your own risk.

Checkpoint loading is much more solid now, but not 1000% guaranteed yet. You shouldn’t see issues with missing/dumb enemies or previously opened locks resetting on load. I’m also now tracking enemy position so they reappear where they were at checkpoint time.

Quirks might happen, specially in very specific scenarios. As usual, please report any mishaps you see. ^.^

Full changelog:

General:
— Fixed checkpoint loads for enemies, items and stats.
— Fixed on rails enemies that could stop mid path, like the first dog.
— Fixed big shotgunners messing up their movement when trying to escape grenades.

Levels:
— Fixed some Z-fighting in level 2.
— Fixed trigger deviating projectiles in lvl 3.
— Fixed column without collision in level 3.
— Fixed naviagtion mesh so enemies can no longer walk through some corners in level 3.
— Added kill trigger in level 7’s patio, so player will always die if falling off a ledge.
— Added doors to ensure neither player nor enemies leave the sand ambush room in level 12.
— Made last resort fix for rare but possible softlock in that same level 12 spot.